Wedding DJ Tips – The Gig

At Touch Innovations, we make it our goal to provide DJs, musicians and producers with the tools they need to stand out from their contemporaries. In our last two blog posts, we provided you with some helpful tips to help you prepare for the upcoming wedding season. Planning ahead of time will help you know what to expect from the venue and help you establish familiarity with your clients and members of their wedding party.

Preparing for the gig by practicing will lend your set the level of professionalism and consistency that is undoubtedly expected of you. Reliable equipment will help ensure that your performance won’t encounter unexpected technical difficulties. In our third and final installment of this blog series, we’ll take a look at a few key tips to help you during the gig.

Be Organized

Chances are, if you put in enough practice for the gig, you’re in good shape and ready to go for any upcoming wedding. Being able to perform is one thing, but without the proper organization, your performance can easily be disastrous. With many DJs switching over to digital, the organization of your files is absolutely integral to making sure that your performance is everything that both you and your client were hoping for. Making sure that all the files you need are accessible is key. If you’ve prepared, then you likely know where everything is. The last thing you want is to be searching for the song that you need for the couple’s first dance, or for another equally important moment in the wedding reception.

Your number one goal for this and every wedding gig is professionalism. Your current client is more likely to recommend you to a friend if you provide them with quality service, and you never know who’s in attendance — it’s entirely possible that ten future clients could be at that very wedding! Organization will show everyone your commitment to quality service and professionalism, both of which will reflect positively on you.

Be Prepared For Requests

Your set will consist of songs that the couple has chosen, which means that the likelihood of you being able to deviate from that playlist is relatively low, specifically in relation to your own tastes. As with any gig of this nature, people want to hear songs they know and love, and straying from the script usually isn’t a good idea. The one exception to the rule, of course, is the inevitability of requests.

We’ve all dealt with requests at some point; whether from an angry audience member, a kind patron, or someone in between. The difference between a gig where we are the focal point and a wedding gig, of course, is that, at a wedding gig, it is your job to please and satisfy your clients. While they may not have hired you for the gig, the audience at the wedding is almost as important as the couple, and even if you’re not the type to accommodate the requests of audience members in a normal setting, doing so at a wedding is more or less expected of you.

So how do you prepare for this? It’s actually not quite as difficult as one may think. Chances are, if the couple is in tune with more popular styles of music, you may already be adequately equipped with the tunes you need. It’s entirely possible, though, that a wedding patron may have a request that does not fit in line with everything else being played. Because of this, it’s important to prepare for two things. First, make sure that you always a healthy amount of wedding staples available to you. Even if the couple doesn’t request “The Chicken Dance”, they may change their mind once a friend or relative requests it. Secondly, be aware of the most popular songs of that moment, and if they aren’t a part of your set, be prepared for the possibility that someone may request them. Remember, pleasing your audience is key, so taking measures like this will help ensure that you’ll be able to accommodate their needs.

DJ Controllers and Music Workstations for the Working Musician

We hope these tips help you prepare for wedding season this year. Touch Innovations is proud to provide DJs like you with the tools you need to stand out from the rest of your crowd by helping you take your performances to the next level with our groundbreaking DJ controllers. It is our goal to make the lives of musicians, DJs and producers easier while allowing them to be on the cutting edge. To learn more about our groundbreaking DJ controllers and music workstations, contact Touch Innovations today!